How Kids See the World

Today as part of a inquiry-based math lesson we were using straws and twist ties to make quadrangles. The goal was to explore, compare and contrast a variety of quadrangles. One of those quadrangles was a kite.

It wasn't a kite to everyone though. To one of my boys, it was a coffin. To a certain extent, you have to admire his creativity. More so though, I felt saddened by his premature morbid view of the world. He's seen way more than any eight-year-old should have to, and sometimes I forget until moments like this.

What Shared Sacrifice Really Means...

Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune sums it up pretty well...

Except along with teachers throw in all the poor families who rely on Medicaid or any other forms of the social safety net...

We Do Big Things

I didn't get a single Valentine's Day card Monday, but I did get a chance to read Huffington Post blogger Steve Nelson's V-Day themed column, "Happy Valentine's Day -- Take This Job and Shove It". Nelson's column echoes a common question among educators these days: Where is the love? Increasingly, many of us feel under appreciated and under attack, under compensated and overworked.

After reading Nelson's dismal outlook that teaching has become, "so unappealing that only the desperately romantic, just plain desperate, or deeply masochistic young person would find it attractive," it occurred to me that our profession has a bit of a PR problem. I'm not sure I agree with Nelson's assessment of teaching today, but I worry that many do. This is unacceptable at a time when we need to value current teachers, and encourage hundreds of thousands more people to enter this profession.

In light of this need, I'm proposing an ad campaign to promote the status of teaching. When I thought of how I would advertise teaching, one phrase from President Obama's State of the Union immediately struck me: "We do big things".

Who does bigger things than teachers? Everyday the work we do shapes the course of the future. We work with kids who come to school without supplies, without meals, with countless emotional and physical needs and we say, "Let's go to work." Could you imagine a campaign that shared the faces and stories of the millions of teachers to do big things in their classroom every day? Who wouldn't want to be a part of that?

What slogan would you use to promote teaching? Feel free to share your own ideas in the comments.

Are We Having Fun Yet?

Not so long ago I was a first year teacher, struggling to through each day. I chronicled that experience here on this blog, mostly to keep my friends and family up to date on how it was going. The stories weren't very fun for them to read, and it prompted my uncle in his matter-of-fact way to instruct me to relax. It was clear to him that I wasn't having much fun teaching, and if that was the case, he wondered, what's the point?

I'm now halfway through my fourth year of teaching, and my friends and family may still find my writing painful, although perhaps for different reasons. In any case, as I discuss the challenges of my students and the frustrations of my own failure, the question might still remain: Am I having any fun?

The truth is, I do put a lot of pressure on myself. I am perhaps the harshest critic of my teaching, and I often feel like my work is practically a matter of life and death. I want to help my students be better readers, better writers, better communicators and better critical thinkers, because I want them to be able to succeed. I want them to be able to grasp every opportunity they can find. The stress of this pressure isn't very fun to live with day to day.

But, in the classroom? If I've let those frustrations and anxieties creep into my teaching recently, reflecting on my uncle's advice from my first year has served as a wake up call. Creating a joyful classroom has been an ongoing goal of my teaching. But I need to remember that if I'm having fun, it's more likely the kids will too. So...with this in mind, I'm taking a deep breath and reminding myself that while my goals may be serious, my teaching doesn't need to be.

Is TFA Losing Its Sight In Its Old Age?

This past weekend Teach For America held it's 20th Anniversary Summit in Washington, D.C. It's hard to imagine this program which started as a graduate thesis idea is now one of the most prestigious and exclusive pathways for college grads to enter the classroom. In honor of this milestone, there has been a lot written about TFA and its rise to fame and fortune.

TFA alum Robert Schwartz's column from The Huffington Post is especially potent. As a TFA corps member, former principal and Chief Academic Officer of a charter network, Schwartz seems to know the ins and outs of TFA pretty well, which makes his criticism of TFA pretty valid.

Schwartz outlines several ways that TFA has drifted from its core mission of putting good teachers in the hardest to staff schools. The point that stuck with me was his first: "More and more, corps members are placed in high performing charter networks who have little trouble filling teaching positions." This runs totally counter to TFA's founding mission, and the problem was illustrated to me firsthand when a friend's sister who has just been admitted to TFA e-mailed me asking for advice getting a job.

She told me that TFA will be distributing her resume to charter schools and on a map of schools TFA is in contact, about half were charters. She also expressed her desire to find a job in a "supportive charter school environment" because she wants to be a career educator.

I did my best to answer some of her questions, and then added an unsolicited plug for teaching at a traditional district school. Based on personal experience and countless horror stories out there, it's hard to argue that a district school would be better or more "supportive" for her. But it is where she's needed. 20 years ago, that's where TFA would have told her to go and it still should today.

No A's for Effort

Last week my AP drew my attention to a table of my grade's recent practice ELA scores compared with our fall simulation. Specifically she pointed out that my class was the only one which failed to show progress. Ouch.

Over the weekend I sent her an e-mail which essentially thanked her for her support, apologized for missing the mark, and outlined my plan to get my students moving. This of course violated two cardinal rules of public school politics: 1) Don't admit fault and as a corollary 2) Don't expect a pat on the back for doing so.

Two days later, I met with my AP to discuss why things aren't working in my classroom. For some reason I expected a little positive reinforcement, then a discussion of next steps. Instead, after 40 minutes of grilling on differentiation, lesson planning and guided reading I felt exhausted, frustrated and humiliated.

Why was I expecting differently? It occurs to me I'm trying to have it both ways. When I saw the scores a half dozen excuses flew through my mind, but I brushed them aside. But, while embracing a "no excuses" attitude, I was unwilling to commit to what that really entailed. Just because I accepted responsibility for the data and used it to create a game plan, doesn't absolve me from failure. Student progress is what matters, not my attitude.

It's tough, but it's a realization that cuts to the core of what good teaching means. I know I'm dedicated. I know I'm passionate. I know I care about my kids. And for many people, for many years, these have been the acceptable criteria for being a good teacher. But, that's no longer the case.

It's a difficult and painful shift in definition, especially when using it to assess my own practice. It's hard to face the fact I may not be a good teacher. But, it's not the first time I've had to. An honest self-assessment though is, as they say the first step. Having given a sobering wake up call, it's time to stop looking for affirmation and start earning it by what matters most: helping my kids move.

The Death of Cool

I hate to admit it, but I have some hipster tendencies. I don't have a mustache, own any vinyls or roll my own cigarettes, but I do have a pair of jorts and a decent collection of ironic t-shirts. That said, there's little room for a detached sense of coolness in an elementary classroom.

I got a reminder of this when I asked my girls and boys to come up with team names for their lines. I award stars to the boys and girls lines based on how they walk quietly to and from lunch and preps. I don't know what I expected their ideas to be like, but the choices they settled on could only come from a group of eight-year-olds. The team names? Sparkle Stars and Fire Breathers.

In some ways, these team names are awesome, even if you aren't eight years old. But then, you have to say these team names out loud in a context like, "Come on Sparkle Stars, let me see your team work," and it's pretty hard not to feel utterly ridiculous. Hearing the words come out of my mouth is one of those, "How did I get here?" moments. No, there's no room for "cool" in a 3rd grade classroom, but I think that's probably a good thing.

The Power of "Why?"

I was in the middle of a guided reading lesson today, when I needed to stop. Most of the students were reading silently, practicing drawing conclusions, but too many students were chatting. I was frustrated, and I needed to get the class's attention.

"Everyone needs to be reading. The only way you get to be a better reader, is by practicing. Who here wants to be a better reader?" 28 hands go up. Well, that was nice, but it was little too automatic to be very meaningful. So, I asked another question, "Why do you want to be a better reader?" It seemed like such a simple question. The answers I got were also simple, but meaningful.

"I want to be able to get more knowledge."

"I want to be able to tell people what I learned."

"I want to be ready to read chapter books."

It struck me that for all the time my class spends talking about goals and how to be better readers, we haven't spend much time talking about why we want to be better readers. I've always found that questions that begin with why get some of the best answers, and I loved the answers I got today. I'm convinced this is a conversation my students and I need to have much more often. I believe that all 28 of my students want to be better readers, but I'm not sure all of them understand why. Maybe continuing this conversation will give their reading a greater sense of purpose and focus.

Time for a Ceasefire

On Friday, Gotham Schools linked to an op-ed by Conor Williams of The Washington Post. In the piece titled "Ending the Education Wars", Williams calls for a much needed time out on the sensationalist rhetoric being hurled by both "sides" of the education reform debate.

I put "sides" in quotes, because like Williams, I think that in essence everyone involved in the discussion about education today agrees that we are failing an unconscionable number of our students, especially those who are poorest and disenfranchised. Yes, there are differences, some profound, about the fundamental cause of the achievement gap and the best approach to closing it. One side argues mainly that we need to address the social disadvantages outside the classroom, and the other side has honed in on the quality of the education inside the classroom.

Both sides seem to be digging their feet in and heating up their attacks on the other. Williams points out:

Here's some good news: Both sides are right. Teacher quality and poverty can both affect educational outcomes. Here's the bad news: Both sides seem bent on disproving their opponents instead of improving education.

I have become increasingly frustrated with the tone of the debate on education reform, especially amongst teachers online. I completely respect everyone's right to disagree, but the extent to which people are demonizing those with different opinions is ridiculous.

It especially bothers me that this language is being perpetrated by teachers whose job it is to promote critical thinking and analysis of diverse ideas. It should be possible to argue, without, as Williams says, assuming the worst intentions of our opponents. Regardless of insults being hurled back in forth, we're all interested in what's best for the kids, so let's figure out how to give it to them.

Now Firing

One of my roommates brought home a copy of Fortune's "100 Best Companies to Work For" issue. Shockingly, when I looked over the list which included companies like Google, Zappos and the Mayo Clinic, there was no mention of the New York City Department of Education. How could this be? We might not have on-site wine bars like one of the companies listed, but we get to shape America's future. How does that opportunity not make the cut?

In all seriousness, I'd be curious to know how Fortune would assess the prospects of working for the NYC DOE. It would be ridiculous to knock teaching for a lack of flashy perks like life coaches, on-site gyms or paid sabbaticals. Still, the NYC DOE falls short in one very real and significant way. All of the companies on Fortune's list are hiring. Meanwhile, the NYC DOE and school districts across the country will be laying off thousands of teachers by the end of this year. At a time when we need the best and brightest to consider education an option, this doesn't make teaching very appealing.

Hiring and retaining quality teachers is one of the fundamental components to fixing our schools. Education as a profession may not be able to offer the same money or incentives as the companies on Fortune's list, but there is a lot schools and the DOE can do to attract and keep the best teachers possible. Here are a few ideas inspired by Fortune's list:

• Better starting salary. This is a no-brainer.
• Use the incoming 4-tier evaluation system to reward excellence in the classroom.
• If layoffs are necessary, start with the teachers rated Unsatisfactory, instead of the teachers you just hired.
  
• According to the blurb of Zappos.com, besides having a life coach on hand, one of the company's guiding tenets is "create fun and a little weirdness." Meaningful and productive creativity should be just as encouraged in teaching.
• More diversity. Arne Duncan and Spike Lee called for it on Monday. Edward Jones, Fortune's #11 got a shout out for making diversity a priority through a recruitment program. Where's the DOE on this?
• Wi-fi enabled shuttle service. Okay, it might be tough to copy this from Microsoft, but after the last few days of weather, I can dream, right?

What ideas would you add to the list?